Who doesn’t love a good sledging match between Hardcore bands? For a scene so tight-knit, it’s surprising when bands are willing to call out one another, but in the latest episode, Terror and The Ghost Inside have butted heads, each now with one point on the board.

During a recent live performance, Terror frontman Scott Vogel unleashed about his thoughts on hardcore, which very quickly turned to who Vogel thinks pulls it off, and who doesn’t – labelling The Ghost Inside as one of the latter. What was supposed to be a quick plug of the band’s forthcoming album, ended up in a bit of a rant “It’s a very anti record of bullshit bands like The Ghost Inside that claim they’re hardcore when they don’t even know what hardcore is, get out of my face. Oh yeah, that’s what’s up. We’re not holding back anymore, ya know what I’m saying?”

Well, now The Ghost Inside frontman Jonathan Vigil has responded, according to Friends Or Enemies. Vigil was very diplomatic in his response, and even concedes some of the band’s shortcomings, and very effectively gets his point across. Buuut, it is a bit of an essay; you can read the whole thing below.

So what do you think? Are Terror getting out of touch? Or is classic HxC just on its last legs? The ball is in your court now, Vogel, what say you?

Hardcore to me is, and always has been, about the message. It’s about the sense of community you feel knowing you’re not the only one who thinks the way you do. About the pride you have in yourself that you don’t conform with the “normal world.” Hardcore is about being yourself and being proud of it.

I grew up, and got into hardcore music through bands like Throwdown, Shai Hulud, Bane, One King Down, American Nightmare, etc. All of these bands sound completely different, but they all still have something in common. Every single one of those bands have songs of substance, songs that make you think, songs that mean something. And they all have some merch with the word ‘hardcore’ on them.

I do my absolute best to give back to the hardcore community by trying to write songs that will inspire and help people the way that hardcore bands of my era helped me. I wouldn’t have the strength to turn down any drugs or alcohol that came my way if it wasn’t for Throwdown’s ‘You Don’t Have To Be Blood To Be Family’. I would be an angry people-hating misanthropist if I never heard Shai Hulud’s ‘Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion’. And most importantly, I wouldn’t have learned about dedication and sacrifice if it wasn’t for Bane’s ‘Give Blood’. All of these lessons I learned from hardcore. I owe who I am today to hardcore.

Hardcore to me has never been about a sound. It has always been about a message. The reason I call The Ghost Inside a hardcore band is because I believe in our songs. I believe in what we do. I believe that we are doing this band for all the right reasons. That’s why it’s so important to me to let people know what our songs are about. In the chance that they hear the message, and it sparks something inside them.

All of this is why I’ve always considered The Ghost Inside a hardcore band. If other people and other bands in the hardcore community feel that we are doing the hardcore community an injustice, or misrepresenting the scene, we will never print another piece of merch with the word hardcore on it.

I want people reading this to know that I mean no disrespect to anyone. ESPECIALLY Scott whom I’ve toured with a bunch, and have had many talks with about hardcore music. I respect his band, his career and what he said about my band. While on tour with Terror I acted a fool and disrespected Scott and some of his friends. I’ve done my very best to make amends with them. He has a reason to dislike me and my band. That is something I can only blame myself for, and something that I have to live with. Hardcore is also about honesty, and he was just being honest with the crowd.